Horseball at the Heritage Centre for Half Term!

26th May 2017

Half Term Horseball

On 10th and 11th June, during the half term weekend, the National Heritage Centre at Palace House Newmarket will be hosting the Ladies and Pro-Elite Team GB Horseball team in the Peter O’Sullevan Arena. Visitors will be able to watch the elite Horseball team throughout the day as they take part in team training before they compete in the Federation International Horse Ball European Cup 2017. Training sessions will be taken by French International and Team GB Coach Chrsitophe Desormeaux. During the daily public demonstrations, at 11am and 2.30pm over the weekend, there will be an opportunity to be introduced to the runners and riders and gain a better understanding of the sport.

The team consists of 15 ex-racehorses, including the popular David Simcock trained Mabait (training Sunday only), it will be a fantastic opportunity to come and see how versatile racehorses can be when they have finished racing.

Horseball is a game played on horseback where a ball is handled and points are scored by shooting it through a high net (approximately 1.5m x 1.5m) The sport is a combination of polo, rugby and basketball. It is one of the ten disciplines officially recognised by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.

This training weekend is the final training before the Team GB selections are made. The players have been shortlisted at this stage to groups of 10, the final team will be a list of 8 plus 2 non-travelling reserves. Chrsitophe has observed these players in multiple Horseball Team GB try-out training sessions as well as watching them in action playing in the British Horseball Association League.

Tickets to the Peter O’Sullevan Arena will be £5 throughout the day, and free for annual members. The daily demonstrations will take place as usual at 11am and 2.30pm which all ticket holders on the day will be able to attend.

A list of riders and horses can be found on the What’s On section of the website.